You may have noticed things look a little different around here - we've switched to a new platform (XenForo) and have some new forum styles and features. This how-to guide will help you find your way around.
If you find anything that looks strange, post it in this thread.

NOTE: This was written for Vista back in 2008. I no longer have a Dell lappie with a MediaDirect button so I cannot adjust this for W7 nor test. See post here for W7 instructions.

- How to change your Dell MediaDirect button's functionality -​

There have been many posts asking how to change the function of the Dell MediaDirect button (the little house). I thought it might be easier for people to reference if the basics were all located under one thread. What follows is the process I use.

Couple of important bits of info before we begin:

1. This process DOES NOT require you have MediaDirect. Quickset is required as Quickset creates the Registry Keys which we need and handles the routing.

BE AWARE, WE WILL BE EDITING THE REGISTRY. IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE OR CHANGE SOMETHING BY ACCIDENT, YOU CAN HOSE YOUR SYSTEM. BACK UP YOUR REGISTRY IF YOU FEEL THE NEED. IF YOU DO NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE, STOP NOW.

Without further delay, let's get started.

1. We will need to modify a couple of registry keys. Open REGEDIT via the RUN command (type REGEDIT). This will launch the REGISTRY EDITOR. (Again, if these keys are missing, just create them).

1. Right-click an empty space on your desktop, point at New, and then select Shortcut.

2. Type rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation in the location field and then press Next.

3. Type the name of the shortcut in the name box ("LockWorkstation").

4. Click Finish to create the shortcut. To keep the desktop clean and free of clutter, move the newly created shortcut to the root level of your C: drive.

5. Now, in the Application path of the registry edit process, change it to point to your LockWorkstation shortcut.

"C:\LockWorkstation"​

6. Reboot.

Pressing the MediaDirect button will now lock your lappie. Granted its probably just as fast to use keyboard shortcuts, but some people may find it useful.

Try this for a SHUTDOWN shortcut which will force all open application to close the system to shutdown:

Shutdown.exe -s -t 00 ​

or to give the system 30 seconds, use this:

Shutdown.exe -s​

For SLEEP, try:

Rundll32.exe Powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Sleep​

for HIBERNATE, try:

Rundll32.exe Powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Hibernate​

Again, once you have identified the shortcut/application/file you want to link the button to, just go into the registry as before and change the Application Path. You can link to any shortcut you create... Why not set it to launch a favorite website like NotebookReview's Dell Forum? Kind of cool huh?

Well, there you have it. Enjoy! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

I'm still looking for a way to map the key to turn on the media buttons on the front of the laptop (the lights) so that they can be seen in the dark when I want to switch songs and the such. They turn on for five seconds after depressing them, but then go black.

I'm still looking for a way to map the key to turn on the media buttons on the front of the laptop (the lights) so that they can be seen in the dark when I want to switch songs and the such. They turn on for five seconds after depressing them, but then go black.

Click to expand...

I dont think you'll find a way I highly doubt those LEDs are controlled by software or the BIOS. I'm thinking more along the lines of TV remote style - push activated, part of the button... ya know?

Well I can't get mine to work. I'm familiar with changing things in the registry so I'm not necessarily doing something wrong.

I've got a Dell Inspiron E1505 and have reinstalled Vista Ultimate on it from a clean hard drive (none of the dell stuff). I noticed that in the registry i do not have a ControlSet002 - just the 001 and 003. I tried to make the correct path and once i restarted it was gone, interesting.

Here's the path when i do a Copy Key Name (so spelling isn't an issue). Was i correct that the end was a zero and not an O?
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\MobilePC\HotStartButtons\0"
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet003\Control\MobilePC\HotStartButtons\0"
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MobilePC\HotStartButtons\0"

Then the I created a simple new string value - it didn't have to be special did it?
Here's what i got for that: "Application Path" and "C:\Windows\ehome\ehshell.exe"

On a fresh Vista x64 install I don't have the 0's...just HotSTartButtons and then no folder inside of that. I guess you can't do it without Quickset and/or MediaDirect installed. Unless maybe I make my own 0 folder?

For nm3210 and DFIFan, check the first page. I've added exported registry entries for you to use since you are having issues. These entries are setup to utilize the 'Turn Off LCD.exe' app. The zip archive includes the Turn Off LCD.exe app.